A NASA team has detected the organic molecule methane on the distant planet HD 189733 b, located 63 light years away from Earth, reports Scientific American. Last year, members of the same research team reported the presence of water vapor on the same planet.

Although scientists say the findings probably do not indicate signs of life on the giant planet, whose atmosphere sits at a searing 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, the discovery raises the hope of making similar detections on a smaller, cooler planet more similar to Earth.

“On a more hospitable planet this would really be something exciting,” said Mark Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “These measurements are the dress rehearsal for something we hope to be doing in the future.”

The discovery is just the most recent development in what scientists are calling an explosion of planetary findings in recent years. Astronomers identified the first planet outside of our solar system 13 years ago, and since then have confirmed 277 total.

“These are exciting times for studies of extrasolar planets,” said planetary scientist Adam Showman of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Researchers “are finally moving beyond simply discovering such planets to truly characterizing them as worlds.”

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union formally reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, and added two other dwarf planets, Ceres and Eris, to the roster of planets in our solar system.

Astronomers have detected the gas methane in the atmosphere of the distant planet HD 189733 b. Last year, members of the same research team reported the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of the gaseous planet, located 63 light years away from the Earth. “These are exciting times for studies of extrasolar planets,” said planetary scientist Adam Showman of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Researchers “are finally moving beyond simply discovering such planets to truly characterizing them as worlds.”

Although methane on Earth is generated by cows and rotting garbage, scientists say the discovery is probably not an indication that they’ve stumbled on signs of life on the planet. But their success in detecting the gas from such a far distance gives them hope that they will be able to find it on a smaller, cooler planet more similar to Earth. “On a more hospitable planet this would really be something exciting,” said Mark Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “These measurements are the dress rehearsal for something we hope to be doing in the future.”

Scientists are reporting amazement at the recent explosion of planetary discoveries, with 277 confirmed “extrasolar” planets, and more on the list of those suspected but unconfirmed. “This is an absolutely astounding time for this field,” said Mark Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who led the team that reported the first discovery of organic methane in the atmosphere of a planet outside the Earth’s solar system.

A new Kepler spacecraft will aid astronomers in their search for an Earthlike cousin outside of our solar system. In the past few years, scientists have discovered more than 250 planets orbiting distant stars, most of them “giant planets” the size of Saturn or Jupiter.

Japanese scientists claim that they have discovered a mysterious new planet about two-thirds the size of Earth in the outer reaches of the solar system. There is no concrete proof yet that “Planet X” exists, but the research team claims that their theoretical calculations taken from computer simulations show that it is highly likely.

A fourth-grader and her mom were the winners of a National Geographic contest to come up with a phrase to help people remember the new order of the planets. “My very exciting magic carpet just sailed under nine elephants” was the winning entry whose first letters represent the 11 planets in order of their distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Eris.

Pluto is a dwarf planet that orbits far from the sun, according to NASA’s world book. It shares the region of its orbit, called the Kuiper belt, with several similar icy bodies called Kuiper belt objects. It was discovered in 1930 and was widely considered the ninth planet of our solar system until recent years, when astronomers started to question its classification because of its small size, irregular orbit and similarity to KBOs. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union formally reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.

The official Web site of the International Astronomical Union, whose mission is to “promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation.” The 2006, the group voted to reclassify Pluto as a “dwarf planet.”